Hamilton man stabbed to death, 'long-time' friend accused: police

Hamilton police say a man who was stabbed to death Saturday night at a downtown apartment was a childhood friend of the accused.

On Sunday afternoon Hamilton police confirmed 46-year-old Wayne Bilodeau of Hamilton as the victim of a stabbing that led to his death.

Police say 45-year-old Robert Surridge of Hamilton is now facing a second-degree murder charge.

Police say the two men were long-term friends and had not been known to Hamilton police.

"Our understanding right now is that they were long-time childhood friends," said Det.-Sgt. SteveBereziuk.

Bereziuk says police are going to explore precisely what the relationship was, and how events led to Saturday night's outcome.

'There was adisturbance'

Police say shortly after 9 p.m. they responded to a disturbance at thedowntown apartment located at 15 Lamoreaux Street.

Once police got there, they say they found a man who was seriously injured.

Along with police, paramedics and the fire department attempted to revive the man. Police say however, the man was pronounced dead on scene.

"There was a disturbance which led to the stabbing death of Mr. Bilodeau," said Bereziuk.

"The details of what transpired inside the apartment will remain evidence at this point."

Not a random attack

Bereziuk said police have limited witnesses in this case.

When asked by media if there was anyone else in the third-floor apparent unit where the incident took placeand where Bilodeau was found, he says that will remain evidence.

"I wouldn't consider it a random attack. The accused and the victim knew each other. As for why it happened, that's part of the investigation so we'll work through that."

In terms of how long the disturbance lasted for, Bereziuk says police don't believe it was overly long, but that they will be investigating that as well.

Police say the number of times the 46-year-old was stabbed, the location of the wounds and who made the 911 call, will also remain a part of their investigation.

He did say that police have recovered a weapon from the scene and investigators are in the process ofdetermining whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

There was a scheduledautopsy Sunday to confirm the cause of death.

Family grieving

Police say Surridge was quickly arrested at thescene and made an appearance Sunday at the John Sopinka Courthouse in Hamilton where he was charged with second-degree murder.

Bereziuk says it took police the majority of the night and into this morning to locate Bilodeau's next of kin.

"The family is naturally very, very upset," said Bereziuk.

He says the man's family was shocked to learn that he was allegedly stabbed by his long-term friend.

"They're struggling with comprehending what's happened, so they're obviously in very early stages of grief," said Bereziuk.

He says Bilodeau lived in the city and has had a girlfriend for a substantial period of time and she's "very upset."

It isn't known if Bilodeau had any children.

Bill Fairholmhas been living in the building for almost nine years. He told CBC News that he first learned of the incident that took place in his building Sunday morning.

He says although police are often there every few months, he's never seen anything like this before. Fairholmsays that around his area is "lovely."

"It's a little concerning. I was a little stunned actually because you just never usually expect to be around a murder," said Fairholm.

'I was pretty shocked'

Rachel (she asked that only her first name be used) lives on the third floor of the building, the same floor where the incident took place. Shesays she discovered that something was happening around 4 a.m. Sunday morning when she heard people talking in the hallway.

"I was pretty shocked," she said. She moved there in March.

"It's a little concerning, but there's been a lot of police presence, so they're taking care of it."

Police remained at the buildingthroughout Sunday and had the fronttaped off.

They are asking for anyone with informationto contact Det. Mike Ebert at (905) 546-4167.

laura.clementson@cbc.ca